Opinion: The DC "sports curse" is real
You don’t believe it? There’s a curse here. Oh yes, the District is cursed. Some say it comes from a ghost under Memorial Bridge, while others say it rides on the Metro with fans on the way to games. Wherever it comes from, it exists.
I’ve lived in this city for 15 years, and every year my heart is broken at least twice. The Nationals can’t seem to get anything done and are constantly injured. The Capitals are known for playing great in the regular season and then choking somewhere around the second round of the playoffs. (Yes, we won the Cup last year, but this year was inexcusable.) The Wizards haven’t been good since they were the Bullets. And finally, the Washington Redskins are the laughing stock of the NFL.
All I really ask for as a DC sports fan is to have one out of four teams produce something. That seems almost impossible for some reason. The Nationals have a fantastic lineup, but have one of the largest injury lists in the league. For years, the Redskins will think that they finally put together a functional team, but like the Nationals, they will have a terrible season because of extreme injuries that don’t seem to happen to many other teams. It’s almost like whenever a DC team seems to finally have everything figured out, the curse strikes and everything falls apart.
The future for DC sports teams, as usual, doesn’t look too bright. The Wizards somehow ended up with the number-nine pick in the NBA draft. There was about a 5% chance of this happening, and it happened. The Redskins have a completely destroyed offensive line and owe tens of millions of dollars to a quarterback who will never play again. The Capitals are getting old and have a large number of signings that need to be made this offseason. And the Nationals are on the verge of firing their manager and losing their best batter. We are entering the dark years for all of our major four sports teams.
The one truly good thing I have witnessed in my 15 years in DC is the Capitals’ championship. Even though it tore me apart watching them lose in overtime a little over a month ago, I will always remember the summer nights outside Capital One Arena and the championship parade down Independence Ave. Hopefully the curse will just disappear one day, and DC fans can finally get what we deserve.
